Tom Kearney was the most successful of the Irish fencing contingent at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games, qualifying from his first-round group and advancing to the second round in the épée competition – the furthest any Irish fencer progressed at those Games.

A dairy farmer from Ballyragget, Co. Kilkenny, Kearney competed after the OCI’s Standards Committee initially declined his selection, with admission to the Games secured through the intervention of the FIE and IOC President Sigfrid Edström. He paid his own way to Helsinki, making the arduous overland and sea journey through England, Holland, Germany and Sweden. On arrival at the Olympic Village the fencers were refused entry to the Irish quarters.

In his second-round épée bouts, Kearney was forced to fence five opponents back-to-back after officials failed to notify him of a thirty-minute rescheduling of his bouts, leaving him to arrive at the venue late; Charles de Beaumont of the British team intervened to ensure he was still permitted to compete. He went on to compete at the Rome 1960 Olympics.